New iMac with M4

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Display size, quality, and alternatives

  • Many miss the discontinued 27" 5K iMac; 24" is widely seen as too small for a primary dev/creative machine.
  • The 5K iMac panel is praised as unusually good even by current standards; Apple’s Studio Display is seen as its spiritual successor but very expensive.
  • Third‑party 5K options (LG Ultrafine, Samsung Viewfinity, Huawei Mateview, etc.) are discussed, with complaints about burn‑in, coil whine, or lower pixel counts.
  • Several people repurpose old 27" iMacs as external displays via aftermarket driver boards; others wish Apple still supported Target Display Mode or had HDMI/DP input.

RAM, storage, and pricing

  • Positive reaction that 16GB is finally the base RAM; many call 8GB “criminal” on expensive Macs.
  • Strong criticism that iMac is capped at 32GB unified memory, seen as a hard blocker for heavy local LLM or pro workloads. Others argue 16–32GB is plenty for the target audience.
  • Apple’s RAM and SSD upgrade pricing is widely condemned as extreme price discrimination; many compare to cheap commodity DDR and NVMe.
  • Base 256GB SSD is considered too small in 2024, especially given large apps, photos, and games.

Magic Mouse and USB‑C peripherals

  • Accessories moving from Lightning to USB‑C is welcomed.
  • Long debate about the Magic Mouse: some love the touch surface and gestures; many find it ergonomically bad and still hate the bottom‑mounted charging port.
  • Defenders say the battery lasts for weeks and 2–10 minutes of charge gives hours, so inability to use it while charging is mostly a meme; critics say that doesn’t fix real‑world interruptions.

Upgradability, longevity, and environmental concerns

  • iMac’s non‑upgradeable RAM/SSD and tied‑to‑the‑screen design are criticized as wasteful; monitors often outlive computers.
  • Some users keep iMacs 8–12 years and argue that, in practice, that lifespan is good enough.
  • Others call Apple’s “green” messaging hollow while devices are designed to be non‑repairable and screens can’t easily be reused as monitors.
  • Apple’s trade‑in/recycling is noted, but several say “reuse” (e.g., monitor‑only mode) would be far greener.

Form factor, ports, and design

  • The persistent “chin” and large bottom bezel are divisive: some see it as ugly and outdated; others note it houses electronics and speakers and gives a place to grab or stick notes.
  • Ports on the back are criticized as inconvenient; the external power brick with Ethernet is seen as a clever way to keep desk cables minimal.
  • Lack of larger iMac (27–32") and no ultrawide option disappoints many power users.

Performance, AI, and positioning

  • Comparing M4 iMac mainly to M1 iMac feels like marketing spin, but some say that’s fair because many owners are still on M1.
  • Claims like “world’s fastest CPU core” and “up to 4.5x faster than popular Intel AIO” are treated skeptically due to “up to” framing and benchmark cherry‑picking.
  • 32GB cap and base M‑class chip suggest this iMac isn’t intended for heavy LLM or ML work; commenters expect that from future M4 Pro/Max/Ultra Macs instead.
  • Apple Intelligence and Private Cloud Compute are mentioned, with mixed views: interest in OS‑level LLM integration, but ongoing worries about phoning home and past telemetry (e.g., code signing checks).

Use cases and target market

  • Many agree this model is aimed at “normals”: family computers, reception/front‑desk, small businesses, education, and shared living‑room machines.
  • Power users on HN overwhelmingly prefer Mac mini/Studio + separate monitor, or MacBooks with external displays.